This Month In Beer: November 2014

Four Craft Beers You Can't Pass Up This Month

Stone of San Diego - Coffee Milk StoutChanneling the cooler weather, Stone of San Diego makes a Coffee Milk Stout to keep you warm on the beach, if you’re down South, or around the fire, if you live near me in the frozen North. Milk Stouts typically feature a sweeter finish than standard stouts. I initially found this one had significant coffee bitterness and dry roasty flavor, but as it warmed, it became creamy and well balanced with some dark chocolate notes and rich graininess. This one really grew on me and after I noted that it only had a 4.2% ABV, I discovered my new session stout. While the darkness of this beer may make you think it’s heavy and rich, its body is actually fairly light and its crisp carbonation cleanses the palate nicely to prepare it for your next sip. You’ll be surprised by how well this beer pairs with rich, full meals and even desserts. Stone even offers a link to a Chocolate Coffee Milk Stout Cheesecake recipe, if you’re up for baking with beer.

Unibroue - La Résolution The final beer is a big, bold offering from Quebec's Unibroue called La Résolution, which features some very bold spicing and flavoring to enhance an already powerful beer. It unabashedly calls itself a spiced ale and lives up to its description with huge, rich, spicy herbal notes with caramel malt and gingerbread. It's deep brown in color and has a fluffy off-white head. The flavor is an interesting combination of bold spices, peppery hops, estery dark fruit and even some roasted malt in the background. If I were to guess at the base ale used to create this beer, I’d think it was a Belgian Dark Strong Ale, a beer known for deep, dark complexity. This base combined with the spicing creates something very different and powerful. As expected for a huge ale, this beer also demonstrates a huge ABV at 10%, basically double your average beer. Its finish is off-dry with some fruit and spice and less alcohol warming than you might expect. This is an incredibly complex and interesting beer and one I’d strongly recommend you share with some friends.